Ugly City Trip

We departed town at about 8:30 a.m. yesterday morning. The sky was a bit overcast but nothing too serious. The roads were just terrific all the way into the city. As I said I would, I took along my camera to see if I could get a snap of a few of the deer along the highway.

We did find the deer where they have been for the last while, however, it must have been too early as they were all sitting (laying) down in the snow. There didn't seem to be quite as many either so I decided to not stop and waste the time trying to get a pic.

I had a doctor's appointment at 9:30 a.m. so we just kept trucking along to the city and figured I'd try on the way home. At this time the weather was still very nice although a bit overcast. After I had finished with my doc we headed towards the mall to have a java with mom and Fred. Just as we pulled into the mall parking lot a few snow flurries started to come down. As we got out of the truck I sure noticed there was a definite bite in the air. The temperature seemed to have dropped about 10 degrees in less than 30 minutes. But maybe it was just that the darn wind had picked up so much.

When we got inside the mall I noticed that mom and Fred had already arrived and were sitting down having a bit of breakfast. I grabbed a couple of coffees for Sam and myself and joined them at the table. We shot the breeze and got a few things organized for Fred's income tax that he is taking to an accountant on Friday. Before we knew it, the clock was showing 11:30 a.m. so we decided to depart the mall.

As I was departing the mall I noticed that the snow was definitely a lot heavier now but nothing too serious. I figured I'd hit the car wash and get some of the mud off the beast. I normally use the Husky wash that is just north of the Lawson Mall so I drove over that way. As I was waiting to get into the stall I gave dad a call to inform him that we had actually made it into the city today and we'd be over for lunch.

After lunch I figured I'd take a peak at Andy's computer as she has been having a bit of problems of late with it being slow. So dad and I went over to her house and I got to work with 'Crap Cleaner' and 'Spybot'. In all we were probably there about 90 minutes and then departed. By this time the snow was really coming down. Once I got back to dad's I picked up Sam and were 'outta there'.

Then we had to stop off at both WalMart's to pick up some prescriptions and then we headed southbound for home. By this time the snow was really coming down but the roadways on the highways were okay. At least they were about a thousand per cent better than the roads in the city which are sheer ice. At times the visibility dropped to almost nothing, but at least the roads stayed fairly clean and we could make good time.

On the approach to the area where we normally see the deer feeding we were presented with a field with probably 200 to 250 deer grazing. This is probably the most I've ever seen in this one area this year (or ever for that matter). The weather wasn't the best but I figured I'd pull over and see if I could get a pic or two. I just wished I was on the other side of the highway as we were quite a distance from the herd although they were fairly near the ditch but on the other side of the highway.

It is interesting in that the deer were not perturbed with the vehicles whizzing by at all. However, once I stopped their heads immediately came up and you could see they were nervous. As we sat and I tried for a few pics the deer actually started to move off further towards the tree line. Now I was just sitting in the truck across they ditch and then across a four lane highway and they still got skittish. I guess that's why there are so many of them around at present. They know when to take a hike from danger.

Anyway, here a couple pics I grabbed of part of the herd. As I said, the weather wasn't the best and I was a fair distance off. But you can tell they are not cows :)




After taking the pics we continued southbound and arrived home safe and sound just prior to 5 p.m. I have no plans at present to travel northbound in the next week or so, but if I do I'll be taking the camera and hopefully be able to get some shots from the east side of the road. Mind you the way the deer acted today when I stopped, I'd better be quick with the camera or all I'll see is their rumps heading off into the sunrise :(